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Leader's LetterJune 2006
Waste Not, Want NotSome months ago I discovered New Zealand Police are intending to destroy 882 Remington rifles, once replacement Bushmaster semi-automatic rifles have been issued. The Remingtons are of a standard type used by many sporting enthusiasts and hunters throughout New Zealand: there is nothing fancy about them and being bolt action they are not particularly attractive to criminals. They have an estimated second-hand value of $529,000. When asked why they were intent on destruction rather than re-sale, the Police and the Government hid behind a commitment to a United Nations Protocol to limit the illicit trafficking of small arms, parts and ammunition in order to combat transnational crime, which states that governments should dispose of surplus arms, preferably by destruction. The problem is New Zealand has not signed that protocol. In fact, not enough countries have even signed up to effect its ratification for introduction into international law! So why are we being held to an agreement that we haven’t even agreed to? The sale of the arms to legitimate, licensed people would realise something in the region of $0.5 million that could be returned for the benefit of New Zealand taxpayers. Another argument put forward by the Minister, that to put a further 800 rifles into the public domain is unwise, fails to stand up to scrutiny because over the next year, four times that number of firearms will more than likely be brought into New Zealand by licensed importers anyway. By recycling these second-hand rifles to people who have been licensed by police, we not only get to recoup half the $1 million initial purchase price, we can mitigate the negative balance of payments by reducing unnecessary imports. A similar situation exists with the now defunct New Zealand Army M113 personnel carriers. Replaced by the hugely expensive, over-budget LAV3s, the M113s have been mothballed waiting for re-sale.
The problem is that the United States is enforcing a 40-year-old clause in a contract that says these vehicles can only be on-sold for static displays in museums. But, with an upgrade like that currently being done by Tenix in Australia for the Australian Army, the M113s can still play a valuable role in areas where the LAV3s can’t, and in their upgraded form are still on frontline duties in countries such as Israel and Iraq. So why is our government prepared to sell them in bulk, for a pittance, for scrap. Further, there are genuine restorers and collectors of such vehicles – individuals and groups who give up their time to maintain our heritage and bring their vehicles along with pride to many parades and special occasions in New Zealand – who see enormous value in the M113s. The point, at the end of the day, is this: it behoves governments to remember whose money it is they spend, and that their responsibility to their taxpayers should prompt them to think twice before flagrantly wasting funds that they hold in trust. It would pay for them to adhere to the old adage, “look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves”. Ron Mark MP
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